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Risk assessment

Genuine Risk during sea trials. Note her bowsprit

We look at the latest maxi, a Dubois design to be launched from McConaghys - Genuine Risk

Genuine Risk was launched recently in Sydney following a build at McConaghys, the latest in a spate of 90ish foot long maxi-monohulls that follows Reichel Pugh designs like
Shockwave,
Zephyrus and recently the maxZ86s
Morning Glory and
Pyewacket and the Hugh Welbourn-designed
Bols.
While Reichel Pugh are the most prolific design house when it comes to this genre of boat,
Genuine Risk differs in being a design coordinated by Dubois Naval Architects.
While Ed Dubois has a strong history in race boat design, recent years have seen his Lymington-based design company specialise increasingly in large sailing superyachts.
Previously they had designed the 140ft long Vitters-built
Whirlaway for
Genuine Risk's owner. With little recent history in race boat design and none in maxi race boat, Dubois was initially hesitant when offered the chance to design
Genuine Risk.
"I said we would like to do it, but it will take a year to do the R&D before we designed the boat," Dubois recounts. "The one thing which encouraged us to do it apart from his patronage and keenness to keep us involved is that there are no rules to these boats any more. If you think back 15-20 years ago when people were doing IOR, they were very refined and small differences were all that was on offer. But what he wanted was the fastest thing that could be sailed at the maximum speed around the track. He didn’t want to know what size it was and didn’t care about there being no rules at the moment, although most clubs are coming across IRC to give these things a fair race. In a way it put us, without experience, at less of a disadvantage rather than if it were an IMS or an old IOR boat."
The owner agreed and a budget for research

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